At Leaders questions in the Dáil today, Richard Boyd Barrett TD, Finance spokesperson for People before Profit-ULA, accused the Taoiseach of deliberate and shocking manipulation of the democratic process in order to cover up the real details of the property tax which will go through committee and final stages today with a government guillotine to be imposed this evening.
One of the key issues Deputy Boyd Barrett pointed to is the fact that only the first acre will be taken into account in the valuation for the property tax which will mean that the land and estates of the super-wealthy will not be taken into account, the small back-yards and small back-gardens will be taken into account.
In a statement Richard Boyd Barrett said, “The government are cynically and deliberately trying to close down debate and prevent proper scrutiny around the local property tax bill in what is a shocking abuse of the democratic process to cover up the gross unfairness of this tax on the family home ”.
“There is a clear pattern where uncontroversial legislation is allowed run for days and even weeks but the property tax legislation involving further crippling austerity on ordinary people is being railroaded through the dail with guillotines and in the most anti-democratic and cynical fashion”.
“One of the really shocking features of this proposed legislation which has not been highlighted anywhere precisely because of the lack of debate, is the fact that the super-wealthy with sprawling mansions and estates will not have those estates taken into account or be subject to the property tax when it comes to teh valuation of their large properties. This is because only the first acre will be taken into account in the self-evaluation of the tax.”
“The government that promised us a democratic revolution are in fact engaged in an undemocratic counter-revolution. They are shredding democracy in order to impose the dictats of the Troika and financial markets while protecting the super-wealthy by attacking the living standards of ordinary peole.
“This has to stop – there needs to be a people’s revolt against the property tax”.